OpenTable's Top 100 Restaurants for Outdoor Dining in America

The glorious sun-, booze-, and food-filled days of summer are almost upon us, and so naturally, everyone's itching to emerge from their crusty pizza-box cocoons and hit up their favorite dining patio at last. While you probably have your favorite spot already in mind, OpenTable has just released its list of the 100 best restaurants for outdoor eating across America, which should give you further food for thought. And food for patio. Or something.

The list includes top outdoor dining destinations from 15 states -- a whopping 45 in California alone. Unsurprisingly, a bunch of OpenTable's picks are in other warm-weather states like Florida and Hawaii. But the list wasn't just based on who's got the best weather. Instead, the restaurants were chosen from more than 20,000 in all 50 states, based on over 5 million restaurant reviews by OpenTable users. In other words, a collective hive of the hungry. Alas, Alaska did not make the cut.

Tony Merevick is Cities News Editor at Thrillist and wonders if chowing a slice of pizza while walking down the street counts as al fresco dining. Send news tips to news@thrillist.com and follow him on Twitter @tonymerevick.